...that we have a government shutdown? And who will be at fault should one occur. You know the MSP will be having a field day blaming the Congressional Republicans, but the passed the CR. Seems to me, the ball is in the Senate's court, and then on to the WH.

Should be interesting eh? UB

Before the MSP slobbers all over this, let me provide another view:

The two words heard on Capitol Hill most often this week are government shutdown (http://content.eaglepub.com/?JatapxzZ47Z8A2I11qcWVIXdaHWqANgFJ&http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=41964%20). And these two words are most often coming from the exact people who have the power to stop it: the Senate Democrats and the White House.

The House Republicans passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) on Saturday that funds the government (http://content.eaglepub.com/?Jdti.xkZ97Z8n2I3yPcwLIXcaHhqASgRJ&http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=41896) for the remaining seven months of this fiscal year at $60 billion less than current levels. The Senate Democrats and President Obama only have to accept these spending cuts and pass the CR by March 4 to avert a full government shutdown.

But, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-N.V.) refuses to bring the House spending cuts to the floor for a vote because they are “draconian.” And, the White House has threatened that Obama will veto the CR if it “undermines critical priorities.”

The House CR’s $60 billion cut in spending (http://content.eaglepub.com/?JaPi.xkZ.tcQn2q11qcWVSXcquWqASgRJ&http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=41732) equals only a cut of 3% of the budget deficit this year. The budget deficit -- how much the government is spending over how much it takes in -- is estimated to be $1.6 trillion by the end of the fiscal year on September 30.

Now the House and Senate Democrats want a 30-day CR to buy them time to negotiate a deal for a CR with less spending cuts than the Republicans passed. However, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R.-Ohio) said that he would not pass a CR -- for any length of time -- if it did not include spending cuts.

Reid totally ignored Boehner and announced yesterday that the Senate will vote next week on a short-term CR, which would keep government spending at the current bloated 2010 spending levels. Reid’s refusal to cut government spending for even the one-month CR has caused the escalating threat of a government shutdown.

By next Friday, the Senate Democrats and the White House have to do one of three things: pass and sign the House CR that cuts spending by $60 billion, pass a short-term CR which cuts spending, or shut down the entire federal government.

The ball is the Democrats’ court. They can keep playing politics with a government shutdown (http://content.eaglepub.com/?JdPa.xzVANcQAlI11PcwLSXdaHWqANMRJ&http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=41964%20%20) to avoid cutting spending or they can listen to the will of the American people. Let’s hope the Democrats keep the budget ball in bounds for the sake of the already faltering economy.
— Emily Miller